Gadag farmers oppose Posco steel plant unit

HUBLI: Land acquisition by the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board for the proposed steel plant by South Korean steel giant Posco in Gadag district has run into rough weather.The main reasons for the villagers’ opposition arethat 3,300 acres identified for the project in Halligudi village off NationalHighway 63, about 500km from Bangalore, are fertile land and agriculture is thevillagers’ only source of income. KIADB special land acquisition officerMahantesh Bilgi said notices have been served on 536 farmers who own over 3,382acres. About half of them have filed objections.Y N Goudar, formerchairman, Sheep and Wool Development Corporation, is heading the Bhoo SwadheenaPrakriye Virodhi Samiti, a committee against land acquisition. He told The Timesof India: “Posco is a matter of life and death for thevillagers.”The Samiti leader said ever since KIADB issuednotices to them, people have become very apprehensive because they know nothingother than agriculture. The Samiti, which held its first round of agitation inMundargi, plans to intensify it in the near future with a protest in front ofthe Gadag deputy commissioner’s office next month, followed by a march toBangalore.